Bright Moments gives artists a platform for global reach. Today, we introduce a significant innovation: the onchain ranked auction.

Problem and Solution

Problem

Traditional Dutch auctions are rapid and stressful, often confined to an hour, and disproportionately favor bidders in certain time zones. This causes rushed decisions that hamper true price discovery. Direct listings, another commonly used mechanism, require a deep understanding of market dynamics and risk either triggering gas wars or leaving inventory unsold.

Solution

In contrast, ranked auctions unfold over 24-72 hours. This expanded window invites global participation and fosters a more nuanced price discovery process, benefiting both artists and collectors.

How It Works

Our ranked auctions use a dedicated smart contract that maintains the order book and streamlines the token distribution and refund processes. Bidders are ranked based on the size and timing of their bids. This creates a dynamic, yet transparent, competitive environment, particularly towards the auction's end, where new bids extend the clock. Artists have the option to either directly mint NFTs to winners or issue mint passes redeemable for future work, thus tailoring each auction to specific project needs.

Unique Features

Transparency Guaranteed: Our system lives entirely on the Ethereum L1, making every aspect of the auction transparent and auditable. This innovation maximizes the blockchain's inherent promise of decentralized, trustless transactions.

Dynamic Discounts: We can introduce bespoke discount or rebate mechanisms, customized for our ecosystem or a particular artist's following. This approach rewards long-term community engagement.

Flexible Tokenomics: Our contract also allows for advanced strategies like "rebate auctions," where winning bidders pay the lowest winning bid, encouraging honest participation and elevating community involvement.

Case Studies

Juan RG's Caminos

Caminos captivated collectors as a free airdrop with significant grassroot community support. We worked with Juan to handpick 50 Caminos held by the Bright Moments treasury to offer for sale via ranked auction. To encourage bidding, we set the reserve price to ~10% of the secondary floor and provided an incentive by offering rare tokens to high bidders.

With 141 bids over 50 hours, we achieved ~3 ETH in sales, providing a win-win: affordable art for collectors and additional revenue for the artist. In a world where secondary royalties are not guaranteed, ranked auctions provide a compelling way for artists to benefit from collections that grow in popularity post-mint.

0xDEAFBEEF's Hashmarks

Hashmarks is a grid of 100 unique hand forged iron sculptures, a cryptographically linked set of digital tokens, and a site specific happening in Patagonia.

As a physical project with a strong IRL component, it was important to establish the base of minters prior to the event. We decided to sell Hashmark mint passes through a ranked auction to encourage price discovery and help curate an enthusiastic group of attendees. Winning bids were guaranteed a spot on the Patagonia journey, with the ranking determining the selection order during the minting ceremony.

The auction is ongoing, but we’ve already filled the leaderboard within 5 hours, generating ~130 ETH to cover the upfront costs of the project and event costs. Mint passes are a fantastic way to pull revenue forward and provide liquidity for buyers prior to the mint.

Conclusion

Our onchain ranked auctions address shortcomings we've identified in traditional sales mechanisms. They welcome a broader array of participants and establish fair pricing, fortified by transparent onchain verification.

We’re excited to add another layer of composability to our growing onchain stack of artist tools.